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Faculty Governance

I.B.3 Curriculum Change

a. General principles

1. The faculty in Liberal Arts is responsible for the curricula in the College and initiates all changes, including new courses, deletions of courses, and revisions in existing courses.
2. The curriculum is subject to annual review by the separate departments and by the Liberal Arts Curriculum Committee which certifies that the curriculum offered by the College has been examined and approved.
3. Any changes in the curriculum will be judged by the following criteria:
   1. Providing the best possible education in the humanities and the social sciences. This implies a respect for the traditions of the discipline and an attention to contemporary scholarship.
   2. Respecting the academic competence of the faculty and permitting them the greatest latitude in their teaching consonant with the other goals of the College. The College of Liberal Arts encourages imagination and innovation in the design of courses and in their implementation.
   3. Providing for the most productive use of the faculty relative to its small numbers and the student population.

b. Initiating changes in course offerings

1. Departments may propose to add new courses or delete existing courses subject to the following:
1. Proposals for new courses must follow the Intercollege Curriculum Committee course description format.
2. The chair of the initiating department will forward proposals for adding or deleting courses to the chair of the College Curriculum Committee and the other department chairs within the College.
3. Proposals for deleting or adding core and Arts of Expression courses must be approved by the College Curriculum Committee and then by the faculty.
4. Proposals for deleting or adding courses other than core and Arts of Expression courses do not need faculty or College Curriculum Committee approval, but must be acceptable to other departments. Departments should bring unresolved concerns to the Curriculum Committee within two school weeks of any proposed change to ensure that such concerns are resolved before the proposed deletions or additions become official.
5. A deparment may appeal the College Curriculum Committee's resolution to the faculty where a majority vote is required to overturn the Committee's resolution.
6. Once a course is approved, the College Curriculum Committee will inform the Dean's office and the College's Office of Student Services, who will inform the registrar of new and deleted courses in a timely manner.
2. Departments may modify courses at their own discretion.
3. When departments revise descriptions of existing courses, the department chair should provide the College's Office of Student Services with copies of such revisions. For its part, the College's Office of Student Services should maintain a complete and readily available archive of the College's course descriptions, past and present.
4. In consultation with the College's Office of Student Services, departments should regularly update their catalog listings--including which courses are listed, the brief descriptions of each course, and the frequency with which each is offered (“offered quarterly,” “offered occasionally,” etc.).
5. Departments may archive a course which they no longer teach by eliminating it from the catalog but keeping the course description on file with the College's Office of Student Services. Archived courses may be revived and taught again without further approval.

Approved May 18, 2001; amended April 3, 2009